Of Rose and War
by coffeemuffinrolls
Summary: A challenge fic for Minnane. In a world of space and technology, two sides fought over the rose that would lead to further devastations. AU Colloyd, Sheelos.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Tales. Nope, nothing.

A/N: This is a story base off of a challenge from **Minnane** in the TOS pairing forum. This is AU, in which I made up the universe they're in…with that said, hope you enjoy!

Rose of War

Prologue

Inside a radiant garden, well-attended flowers were blooming and the fresh dewdrops, shimmering underneath the soft sun, casting the leaves another layer of brilliance.

"You're growing up to be a beautiful flower," a young girl was kneeling by a pink and red daffodil, smiling gently as she fingers its petals. Her hair shined a luminous blonde, soft as silk. With an eyes equally bright as the sapphires, her white and blue dress accentuates her face that still showed the expression of an innocent young girl, with a tint of ignorance.

She stood up from her spot, looking over atop of her. A glass ceiling that concealed this paradise from the outside world, an overall thin protection for such delicacies that resides within.

She closed her eyes. This place…this garden…was under the same circumstance as herself. To be so well-protected by those that cared for them, yet the perils of the outside was unavoidable and inevitable. Such a weak shield, however loving, was bound to break at any given time.

That was why she'd decided. When everything comes to its due end, she will go out and do what she must, no turning back, no regretting. It was for the sake of everyone, everyone that protected her thus far, everyone that loved her, everyone that deserves living.

It's for the sake of every crew members aboard the ship of Iselia.

"Colette!!" a young teenage boy of seventeen, brunette-haired and vigorous, ran up to her. He was dressed in a simple dark shirt with a trench-coat in the color red, and had a strange goggle encircling his neck.

Colette snap out of her thought process, and turned to face her friend. She gave him a genuine smile.

"Lloyd!"

"What're you doing here? It's time for dinner," Lloyd said peering at the daffodil behind his friend. "Ah, the daffodil you rescued!"

Colette nodded happily at Lloyd. "Yup! I though it's not going to grow again because it had been out in the space for so long…good thing it went through!"

With a grin, Lloyd scratched his cheek. "Heh, guess it's the right choice to bring it on board, huh?"

"Yup!" Colette said lively. Then she noticed the look in Lloyd's eyes that said something else then the mere happiness in seeing the surviving flower.

"What's wrong, Lloyd?"

"Well," all of a sudden the boy fidgets, swinging his arms behind his head. "It's just that I wish I could show you the outside. You never come down from this ship."

"That's okay, Lloyd, I always look out the windows when we docked at the ports," Colette said, "I see different faces, different scenes, different buildings. That's enough for me."

The eyes of the boy showed sadness, a pain that was understood by all the members of Iselia.

When Colette was still a young child, the space settlement of Iselia was caught in the cross fire of the war between the humans and the Desians. The survivors came together inside the only spaceship they had in the territory at that time, and thus made the ship their new home.

From that day on, the citizens of Iselia began their lives as traveling merchants, exchanging goods with each port in different colonies. They didn't have the luxury of thinking that the government of Palmacosta would grant them another land, because the politics cared much more for the war then the scarce population of Iselia. Besides, they found it to be safer on the flight. When there goes the first sign of trouble, their home was the safest and quickest getaway.

Even though they had the years coming safe by gathering inside their movable headquarter, one was the exception. She was never allowed to go outside of the ship, out to the public, or anywhere else for that matter. That person was Colette Brunel.

Lloyd never fully understood why she was so special, why she couldn't enjoy the outside like everyone else. He once asked Phaidra, Colette's grandmother, about the reason behind it, but the only answer he ever got was that she was a unique child, and that her exposure to the outside world would harm her and bring her ominous dangers.

Eventually, as the time passes by, Lloyd figured that his childhood friend had some kind of illness or peculiar physique that made her unable to breathe the outside air. The others' attitudes seems to conform with his theory as well, so he ultimately took this idea as the hypothetical truth to her mysterious confinement.

"Don't look so sad, Lloyd," Colette said, her eyes laughing softly, "I'm fine, as long as you bring back some flowers."

"Oh, right," Lloyd thought, fingering his goggles. "The flower you mentioned…'rose,' is it? I think Palmacosta might have them. Want me to check for you?"

"Oh yes, please!" Colette's eyes lit up with joy, "I'd love to see them!"

"Rose, huh? That's the flower we used to have back in the days of our settlement," Lloyd mused, "those sure are hard to come by anywhere else."

Colette nodded. "It's one of the flowers that are unique to the territory of Iselia. My grandmother used to export them across the boards. It's sad that they were all destroyed on that day…"

"That day" was commemorated by the rest. It was the day they fled from their beloved soil, twelve years ago.

"Yeah, but since Palmacosta is opening it's trade route with the Te'thealla System, maybe they'll have some on their side," Lloyd said once again, "if we can grow them here on Iselia, we can make that into our business."

Just when Colette was about to answer, a voice came from outside the entrance of the garden.

"Lloyd! Colette! Where are you guys?"

Following the childish voice, a child about the age of twelve, appeared behind the sliding door. White haired and bright eyes, he was wearing a practical t-shirt of light blue, with a black cotton sweater on the inside, completed with a tilted cap and a complacent knee-length shorts.

"I knew you guys would be here," he said with his hands on his waist, "c'mon, the meal's ready."

"Oh right, sorry about that, Genis," Lloyd said looking over at Colette, who smiled in return.

"You cooked today, didn't you? Then we wouldn't want to miss that!" Lloyd said, laughing as he walked out with his friends.

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Prologue End.

A/N: Oh how I suck at describing costumes...if anyone's having trouble imagining them, please do tell. orz

So…good? Bad? Continue? Tell me what you think, thank you : D


	2. Chapter 1: The Beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

A/N: Sorry for the long wait! My brain has finally decided to take in more inspirations these days, so this chapter's finally finished! Hope you enjoy! Oh by the way, changed the title from "Rose of War" to "Of Rose and War", because it sounds more…dramatic?XD A challenge fic for Minnane.

Of Rose and War

Chapter One

"The Beginning"

"Aselia Era 890, humans found a new kind of energy source. It was a mix between waves and magnetic field, combined with the natural pressure of gravity and the atmospheric pressure. This type of force produces a thousand times more energy than the normal electricity can provide, as well as having the flexibility to undergo severe adaptation with other elements. It was given the name, "mana." It became that it was modified enough, that it was even more powerful than the nuclear power. With this discovery also generates the dawn of a whole new era.

"A.E. 900, "The Age of Kharlan" begins. It was named after the ancient tale of a tree of life that once supported the world of Aselia. The Age of Kharlan was a period of prosper and technological advances for the humans, the economy bloomed under the discovery of mana and Nano-technology. The human's territories also starts to expand, they begin to venture into the vastness of space.

"A.E. 950, the first human to be able to control the mana flow appears. It seems that their DNA was somewhat altered through natural selection and the passing of time, and it had mutated them into beings that can come into contact with the mana in bare flesh. They were first thought to be mutants, but eventually, they came to be called the "alphas."

"A.E. 978, the first war between the alphas and the humans erupt. Because the alphas were able to generate mana within their bodies, their power was devastating. However, the humans were in advantage with their numbers and resources, thus able to fight back. The war lasted for over fifteen years, and the government finally wants to call it a stop.

"A.E. 994, a group of elite scientists were assigned to create a weapon that can suppress the alphas, without avail. But the war had raged on so violently that they decided to go out of their orders and sought another way to stop the war.

"A.E. 998, Project Critical Remediation Unification Axis was proposed. It was a great risk, because none of the designers had the chance to test it out…and it was an attempt to unify through the act of separation. It was all or nothing. When the government refused to support such measure, the scientists acted on their own. 

"A.E. 1000, Project C.R.U'Xis was launched under the ignorance of the united allies. Using mana as the initiating power, they set the Nano- technology roots beneath the surface of Aselia to motion. The planet began to disintegrate into halves. At the end, it was divided into two astronomical systems, orbiting each other with a central mana satellite as the axis, in which the territories were further sustained by the artificial constellation of Undine, Celcius, and…" The speaker stopped, and noticed she had a little bit of a problem in the audience. She cleared her throat.

"Lloyd Irving! Don't sleep during my lecture!" She yelled at the brunette who sat just in front of her, but still had the guts to fall into slumber. The said student forced open his heavy eyelids.

"Oh, sorry about that, Professor Raine," Lloyd yawned, "so, er…where were you?"

Raine's eyes narrowed, and with a disgruntle sigh, she said. "Lloyd, I was talking about the satellites of the Slyvarant and Te'thealla System."

Raine was the elder sister of Genis. Having the same bright eyes and silver hair, she pertains to the younger ones with wisdom and knowledge in an astounding age of twenty-three. She wore a simple but elegant orange one-piece dress, with black turtleneck sweater underneath. A pair of white sunglasses shined as it sat on top of her head.

"Oh really? I thought I heard something about scientists."

"Lloyd, that was long past," Genis whispered besides him. Lloyd's reaction was out of blue, since he suddenly perked up from his lazy posture.

"Hey, I was thinking, what happened to those guys? You know, those science guys that actually made the war to stop?"

"Technically, the war didn't really stop since we still have Desian rebels and alphas…" Genis answered in as-matter-of-fact fashion. 

"But at least we don't have a full-blown war, right?" Lloyd countered. "So what happened to them?"

"They're dead, silly. It was four hundred years ago." 

"Geez, Genis, I know that! I wanna know what happened to them after they did the…what was it? Project C.R.U.L.I.S?"

"C.R.U'Xis, Lloyd," Raine corrected with a distraught voice, "but Genis is right. They were sentenced to death."

Lloyd frowned. "Why? Didn't they do a good thing? I mean they did stop the mess…"

"They disobeyed their orders in the first place, and they drastically changed the world of Aselia," Raine contemplated a moment, "I can understand the government's decision in prosecuting them."

"Hmph, I thought they'd be more renowned for what they did…" Lloyd said half to himself. A clear chuckle came behind him.

"Lloyd, you're thinking a lot on this subject. Didn't you say, 'what's so fun about a bunch of dead guys' before?" It was Colette's voice.

Lloyd barked with laughter. "You're right! I did say that about history lessons, didn't I?"

"Ahem!" Raine cleared her throat once again. "May I continue with my lecture now?" 

The rest of the classmates laughed, and a faint blush appeared on Lloyd's face. He scratched his head and nodded.

Such was a normal day for the younger ones onboard the Iselia. They were given lectures in the only classroom build within the ship, and when the time was right, some young adults would go out to the other colonies to persuade a higher education or standard of living. 

The sound of a robotic voice ranged through the telecom. The port of Palmacosta will be in reach within an hour. Raine shuts down the projector behind her.

"Okay, today's lesson will end here. Since we'll be arriving Palmacosta soon, I believe some of you will have to get ready," At this, she looked at her brother and Lloyd. "Class dismissed!"

One by one they left the room through the sliding door. Lloyd turned around, and saw that Colette was still packing up the books on her desk. 

"Colette, we'll be going then. I'll make sure to check out the flower you want."

Colette send him a smile. "Thanks Lloyd! But don't overwork yourself for that, okay?"

"Hey, what have I missed?" Genis said, popping up behind Lloyd causing the latter to jump a bit. Colette laughed. 

"Well, I'll see you guys around evening. Are you two coming back for dinner?" Colette asked genuinely.

"Yeah, I don't see why not," Lloyd replied. "Dad's cooking today. Gotta be good, huh?"

"Oh yeah, Dirk's cooking is top-notch," Genis nodded pleasantly. 

"Okay! I'll see you then!" The blonde girl waved, then walked out of the room in a haste.

In truth, Colette was sensitive around the subject of the outside world. She always avoided her best friends before their departure in order to stay away from the topic. Because she knew her own condition, it makes it worse for her to see what's beyond these steel walls. 

Colette slows down and glance over the window. Shimmers of stars and the glittering stardust touched spectacularly against the darkness. She'd be lying if she wasn't a little bit envious of them. Unconsciously, she lightly touched the golden choker around her neck.

_What's it like…to be a normal person? _

_------------------------------------------------_

The city of Palmacosta was marked by its high, gothic-like architectures. Skyscrapers soaring to the sky, breaking the boundaries of heaven, an artificial biochemical barrier of breathing oxygen. The highways were structured around the buildings, made by the most durable synthetic substance ever fused by mankind: the aionis. 

The light weight and hardness of these magnificent stones were the core materials for the constructions of Palmacosta, the capital city of the Slyvarant System, the city infamous for its superior technology than any other of its neighboring colonies. 

In fact, the government that overrules the entire System, was also located in this very city. Essentially, Palmacosta was the center of this galactic ring, the metropolis that connects all the other floating settlements around it, as well as the gateway of access to business, wealth, trades, glamour, and religion. 

At the entrance, the security ships were zooming their way back and forth to ensure the trespassing air vehicles were of legit identifications. A large spaceship with a clear display of a commerce vessel, appeared within the runway. A guard motor, rode its way to halt its presence.

"May I see your identification and board pass, please?" the officer spoke to his telecom, and immediately, a smaller screen appeared on the monitor of his cockpit.

"Commerce ship 235, Iselia," the man who spoke to the officer was of middle age, with brown hair and beard, rough wrinkles around his face showing the scars of age. 

"I thought you'd know us by now, don't you, officer?"

The said policeman chuckled, and pressed on the button for the release of the gate to Palmacosta.

"Yes, captain Dirk, but this is my job."

"No problem, mate," Dirk smirked in the tiny screen, "as long as you're letting us through."

From far away, the gate was a grand arch that resembled much of a bridge, stretching as high and as far as the limit of the city itself. With delicate markings carved on its texture, it provided matching majestic feelings to this urban capital. Of course, it was also made with aionis, making it one of the best defender against outside oppositions. 

The gate opened slowly, allowing Iselia to float its way into the port that was just beyond there. The port was a slender building much like that of a lighthouse, and it has an immense platform that was attached to it, allowing the ships to dock and become available to the mechanists and repairing services.

The crews of Iselia came out as the hatch door slowly opens. Men who were eager to deal with business matter, women who needs to restock at the market, and children who wanted to have a breath of fresh air, came down from the ship like a flock of sheep arriving to graze the fresh meadow. 

Lloyd and Genis were of no exclusion, and they belonged to the first group of people--merchants that carry out the financial responsibility of Iselia. With cargos loaded on the automated wagon that followed them, they made their way towards the familiar bazaar that they so often visits.

The marketplace was located near the port, where it was the most convenient for the mercantile services. It's an open area, where the sellers sets up booths and stands that heaps of all the good they could offer in front of them. Just like the other days, this place was crowded. People from all over the different territories, from Luin, Triet, Ascard, Izoold, coming together not just for formal commerce, but casual social gathering as well. 

Walking upon the stone pavement underneath them, Lloyd and Genis trudged along, stopping booths to booths selling and restocking. Lloyd looked around him all the while they were doing about their business exchanges.

"Lloyd, what are you looking at!" Genis finally snaps, "you almost got the wrong change!"

"Oh! Oops, sorry," the elder teen scratched his head apologetically.

"I know you aren't good at math, but pay more attention," Genis replied, while pocketing the change into a money pouch that was attached to the wagon. "Why are you looking around like that?"

"I was just looking to see if there's any new flowers coming in for the booths," Lloyd admitted honestly, "I thought more of them would've showed up since Te'thealla's open and all."

Genis looked at him thoughtfully, then a faint, smugly smile crept onto his face. 

"It's for Colette, isn't it?"

"H-huh? Oh yeah, I promised her," Lloyd said, showing his trademark grin. "I'm looking for the roses."

"Roses…I've heard about them from sis," Genis cupped his chin, "those seems to be rare, since we never find them around any more. Ah!"

Hitting his palm with his fist, Genis beamed as he thought of just the right person they should stop by.

"Why don't we go to Marble's? Even though we don't need to restock the urns and vases, sometimes she has rare things since she liked to import new stuffs," Genis exclaimed, "besides, we can say hi as we do that too."

Marble was an old woman who owns a stand near the end of the busy street. Her cubicle contains of decorative urns, elegant vases, and ceramic plates and figures. However, she was a curious lady that had the utmost passion on new things, thus her stand always have something new or exotic to offer. Lloyd and Genis often went to her for the usual products of urns and plates, but they were also intrigued by the elder woman's kindness and sense of inquisitiveness on the merchandises.

As they went closer to where the stand was, they saw the familiar lady with wrinkled face and hair already streaked with white strands, wearing a plain working dress and handling her vases to the costumers with care and sincere smiles. When she saw the two youngsters approaching her, she waved enthusiastically.

"Genis! Lloyd!"

"Hey Marble!" Genis waved back.

"I had a feeling that the two of you would show up somehow," Marble chuckled as they came close, "so what might you young lads be missing today?"

"Actually, we aren't here for the usual things, Marble," Genis explains, "Lloyd and I are looking for something that's kind of rare, so we thought we should take a look around here."

Marble's eyebrows raised with interest. "Really? And what might that be?"

"Do you know a kind of flower that's called 'rose'?" Lloyd spoke up. "It's uncommon in Slyvarant, but we were wondering if you've heard of them from other places?"

Marble's eyes sparkled, and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. 

"My oh my, where have you heard of such a rare specie, Lloyd?" Marble moved over to rearrange the vases customers had touched.

"Well, it's because our f-…" Genis haven't even begun, and Marble turned with a bright grin.

"However, I might just have the thing you've been searching for."

"R-really!" Lloyd almost yell out the word in excitement.

"Come," Marble gestured, "let me show you what I've got the other day."

----------------------------------------------------

There it was. Magnificent and majestic in all its glorious beauty, was the flower called a "rose." 

Confined inside a clear glass, it was a single rose with perfectly crimson petals, with a tinge of burgundy at the end. It's green leaves reached outward like embracing arms, yet the thorns were flawlessly intact, waiting to lunge at all who dares to handle its delicacy.

Lloyd and Genis marveled at the flower, for they did not have much memory of it anymore. Marble stood near by, crossing her arms proudly.

"Just got this a few days ago. It's a present from a friend of mine."

"B-but where?" Genis asked without taking his eyes off the flower.

"He had the chance to travel overboard to Te'thealla," Marble said, "I didn't expect him to give me something so valuable though."

"A present…"Lloyd paused, lost in thought. "Marble…you're not selling this, right?"

Marble chuckled, immediately understood the meaning behind Lloyd's words. "No, I'm afraid not. But…you said it was for a friend? If your friend really wants to see it, now you know where it is."

Lloyd nodded. "Right, I'll tell her about it. Thanks, Marble."

"Not a problem," Marble smiled, "tell her to wait just a bit longer. If the Te'thealla sees us as trustworthy enough, it'll open it's boarders to regular merchants like us. By that time, you can buy as many roses as you want."

"Sounds like a long wait," Genis said sourly, "even though they've opened the Gate of Origin, the only ones allowed were the officials and specially permitted personnel. Not to mention what they're trading is probably strictly political."

Marble cracked the mood with solid laughter. "You sound awfully pessimistic, Genis! Don't you have hope that the two systems will get along just fine someday?"

"Yeah, SOMEday," Genis said dryly, "I have little hope in government these days because they can't even take care of the Desians. Right, Lloyd? Didn't they start chasing us last time, for no reason at all?"

"Oh that's right," Lloyd frowned, "it was really weird. Iselia is clearly marked as a commercial vessel, but they were targeting like enemy spaceships."

"My my, that sounds more like space pirates," Marble said in agreement, "I'd thought they had more dignity than that."

Lloyd shook his head a little. "Alphas, are they all like that?"

If Lloyd paid a little more attention, he'd notice the subtle fidgeting of his best friend beside him. Genis pulled Lloyd on the sleeve. 

"H-hey Lloyd, want to go back now? We have to go back for dinner, remember?"

The brunette blinked twice at the sudden change of tone from the younger companion, but decided it was nothing to be fussed about. Turning while waving goodbye to the elderly Marble, the two set out on their way home, dragging a load of newly obtained good just behind them.

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End of Chapter 1

A/N: I think I need to read more sci-fi books, since I've been away from science subjects for so long, I don't even know if this chapter sounds convincing or not. sweat Hopefully I'll get better over time! 

I still hope you readers enjoyed! If there's anything that you think I can improve on, please drop me a review! Thanks:)


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